Improvement in steam-generators



PATENT Orricnt,

JOHN ARMSTRONG, OF NEW ORLEANS, LOUIsIANA.

IMPROVEMENT IN STEAM-GENERATORS.

Spccication forming part of Letters Patent No. 79,091, dated June 23,1868.

To all whom, it may concern: y

Beit known that I, JOHN ARMSTRONG, of the city of N ew Orleans, parishof Orleans, .and State of Louisiana, haveinvented a certain new anduseful Improved Steam- Boiler, which, for purposes of distinction, Icall an Improved Skeleton Boiler; and I do hereby de# clare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and eX- act description of thesamegreference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of thisspecification, in Whic y Figurel, Plate 1, is a side elevation; Fig. 2,Plate 2, a plan or top View, and Fig. 3, Plate 3, a front elevation.

Before I proceed to describe my invention or to indicate its mode ofoperation, it is proper to premise that in its 'construction or creationmy great object has been to increase the re-surface of a boiler of anygiven Watercontaining capacity, and correlatively the evaporation andvaporization' of `the Water within it, with a reduced consumption offuel; or, to state my design in other Words, to make a boiler, lof anygiven `Water-containing capacity, Which will generate more steam withless fuel, be more easily manufactured and repaired, and far stronger,and thereforeless liable to explode, while at the same time occupyingless space and securing a more perfect equilibrium of pressure and heatthroughout every part of it than any other boiler that has heretofore`been devised, and Which,"fu1ther more, if such condition be requisite,shall be readily portable from' one locality or situation to another insections, and, therefore, in light and easily-handled form. Toaccomplish these obviouslyhighly-beneficial and economic ends I havecontrived a boiler in which two or more lines or sets of perpendiculartubes or iiues are connected together by a system of transverse or crossflues of smaller. diameter,

"that while approximating to a horizontal po-` sition are yetsufficiently inclined, or lower at one end than the other, to preventthe deposition and lodgment therein of saline or other sediment, andwhich is also provided, in addition to theI ordinary steam-chamber orrspace in which the evolution takes place above the water-line, withcapacious steam-drums, that are placed above the same for containing thesteam and rarefying and drying the same, as well as to interpose aneifectual guard or preventive against the danger of foaming,*and

" also with clearing-pipes to discharge such extraneous or foreignmatter, of a solid or partially-solid form, as may be carried into theboiler with the Water or be created afterward vby the boiling of thesame and. precipitated by its gravity into the lower parts oreXtremities of the vertical tubes and thence into the said pipes, thuspreventing the formation of anincrustation upon the inner surfaces ofthe boiler, or the establishment of obstructions l anywhere therein, tostop or check the due 1 circulation of the water or to endanger theintegrity of the boiler from the action of the fire. I employ inconnection with the clearng-pipes vention will be better and morequickly understood by referring to the drawings, on which the sameletters denote the same parts at all the figures. i

, On the drawings, A A A are the perpendicular tubes, and B B B thelateral or cross fines, which, it will be seen on inspection of Fig. 3,are slightly inclined from a true horizontal line, or` so placed as tobe lower at one end than the other, thus insuring a certain deposit ofsediment that may be made therein, down the inclination into thevertical tubes, `from which it passes into the clearing-pipes, to bedischarged by the blow-off valves or cocks. The connection between thevertical and the cross tubes `may be secured by flanged sleevesrivetedto the extremities of the latter and to the shell of the former aroundthe openings cut through itd to establish a communication between thetwo, as shown at Fig. 8, or by any other usual and 'sufficient meansknown to persons skilled in the art to which my invention belongs.

As a general thing, or for ordinarypurposes,

ordinary valves-such as'are used in all boilers conditions ofsafety andveconomy; but my in-I though gradual movement, it may be, of' any i inconstructing my boiler l2 propose to have three lines of vertical tubes,in each of which there are ten or more tubes; but obviously this is amatter of detail in no wise affecting 1 the principle of my invention,and any number of lines and a greater or 'less number of tubes in eachlinemay be used if circumstances should require modification. So, also,it is proper to state, while I do not confine myself to any givennnmberof cross-dues, l should,

for ordinary purposes, prefer to have four be` tween every two of thevertical tubes, excepting just over the grate-bars, w-here, in ord er tot give sufficient space for the fuel, the number `is reduced to three,as shown on the drawings.

IIhe relative diameters of the vertical and cross tubes should be aboutas twenty-fouris to fifteen-that is to say, if the vertical tubes areto.be twenty-four inches in diameter the crossv iues should be aboutfifteen inches; but, maniof the boiler that might get outof orderwithout taking it apart. The water-line should be just above the top ofthe upper crossilue and justabove thehorizontal cover a, which mayconsist of a plate of iron, through which the l lvertical tubes pass inclosely-fitting openings,

vre-enforced by placing `on it fire-brick or some other non-radiatingsubstance, such as is usually employed in making steam-boiler furnaces.The water extending above this cover or plate, and the fire and fiamebeing confined below it, no lpart of the boiler can ever be undulyheated-or burned.

The space for the steam in the boiler proper is, it will be seen, in thetop or upper extremity of each vertical iiue, which present, in fact,multiple steam-drums above the Water-line and in the connectingsteam-pipes E, through which a circulation of the steam -is establishedthroughout every part of the boiler in which it is evolved or generated.Above these pipes E, and connecting with them by the short verticalpipes b, are the steam-dru ms proper, (marked F,) from which the steampasses directly to the cylinder or cylinders. The drums F areconstructed and calculated with exact reference to the evaporatingcapacity of the boiler and to the withdrawing power of the cylinders,and being raised considerably above the boiler no foaming of the waternor consequent too .rapid reduction of the same can ever possibly takeplace. rlhese drums, as shown on the drawings, are merely illustrations,for they may manifestly be of any other suitable form and occupy anyother suitable relation that convenience may dictate and produceprecisely the same effect.

Underneath each line of vertical tubes, and connecting directly by meansof a short pipe with each tube, are the clearing-pipes G,which areprovided at both their extremities, as shown, with blow-off'valves orcocks H, which may be, as before intimated, of any usual and approvedconstruction.

The covering-plate a is the top of the furnace,which, as a whole, itwill be remarked,

is coextensive with the water-containing parts of the boiler, and c is adivision-plate that is placed below it, in order to establish tworeverse currents of the heat and tlame,ras shown by the arrows atFig.,1, and to extend the draft to double the length of the boiler.

The apron J provides for an open space at the rear end of the boiler,that leads from the open furnace-space below plate cinto the space thatis above it, -which latter constitutes the return-due of the furnacethat connects with and leads into the chimney or smoke-stack K.

In the saine or very nearly the same plane with the lower extremities ofthe vertical tubes A the plate-d is placed, and this plate constitutesthe bottom of the furnace. .The plate c is so placed as to be abouttwice the distance fro m the bottom plate, d, that it is from thecovering-plate a, so as to reduce the return-flue-that is to say, thespace above the intermediate plate, c, to half or less than half thevertical dimensions ,of the space below said plate.

The plates a, c, and d are permanently and rmlysecured to the boiler,and each of them f encircles every tube so closely that no flame canpass through either of them. They moreover extend a few inches outsideeach of the externallin'e of tubes, in order to connect with the sidewalls of the furnace, which are thus removed for-the purpose of creatinga dame-space between the 'said walls and the said outer lines of tubes,and thus to effect a complete envelopment of every tube in the boiler bythe flame, and secure an equal and uniform heat in every part of theboiler by an equal exposure of every part of its surface to the actionof the fire.

Bridge-supports are xed transversely across the boiler for the grates Rin any proper manne'r, so that the said grates can be laid substantiallyas shown on the drawings.

To steady the vertical tubes and insure an upper longitudinalcirculation of the water through them, small sectional pipes orchockjoints e may be introduced, as shown, at a point justbelow the lineof the lower surfaces of the upper or top line of cross-fines B.

Every part of my boiler in which water isV l contained being completelyenveloped in dame, and every part being circular, it-is plainly manifestthat the largest possible extent of nre-surface is presented by it, andhence that the greatest possible evaporation must, necessarily result,and at the same time the greatest possible strength is secured as toevery one of its parts. It will be furthermore observed that should anypart or section of the boiler explode no extendeddamage can take place,as in the case of boilers o'f ordinary construction, and that inconsequence of the existence, as before stated, of considerable spacebetween each tier or system of cross-dues, in the event of any injurytoV any part of the boiler the same may be easily and quickly repaired.Man-holes W, which are covered and closed by man-heads (not shown on thedrawings) in any usual manner, are made in the top of each Vertical tubeA, in order that the Same may be easily entered and cleaned.

I am well aware that James Howard and T. Bonseld have recently patentedan improved boiler in which a set of vertical tubes are connectedtogether by means of single horizontal cast-iron tubes that are placedat the lower extremities of the former; but my invention is whollydifferent in every essential `particular. Especially is it diierent inthat it is made throughout of Wrought-iron and is homogeneous in all itsparts7 and that it presents more than three times the hre-surface of thesaid boiler. I therefore disclaim any pretension to any part of Howardand Bonselds boiler, as well asto their method of uniting the parts. i

I would state that I am aware that the employment or use of horizontalflues for connecting two or more lines or series of n upright tubes orboilers is not new; and I am also aware `that inclined pipes or dueshave been used to connect vertical tubes or boilers. These, therefore, Ido not claim irrespective of the arrangement described; but,

Having thus described my invention, what I do claim, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent. is-

The-central line'or set of "vertical tubes, A, in combination with theouter lines or sets of tubes, and with the system of oppositely-inclinedconnecting-hues B, arranged in the manner and for the purpose set forth.

J N O. ARMSTRONG.

W'itnesses:

LYMAN HARDING, RUFUs R. RHODES.

